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No deal for PM on alcohol and Gonski in NT

MARK BANNERMAN: Back in Australia the Prime Minister says she's dismayed by the Northern Territory Government's decision to scrap a key policy intended to reduce the abuse of alcohol.

Julia Gillard met the Territory's Country Liberals Chief Minister Adam Giles in Darwin today and continued to pressure him to bring back an initiative known as the Banned Drinker Register.

The pair also failed to reach an agreement on the Gonski school funding plan.

Sara Everingham reports from Darwin.

SARA EVERINGHAM: When it comes to alcohol policy the federal and Northern Territory governments are at odds on a number of fronts.

The Prime Minister says she's disgusted by the decision of the Territory's Country Liberals Government to scrap the Banned Drinker Register. It was a list of alcohol offenders who were banned from buying take away grog.

JULIA GILLARD: So we will be continuing to pressure the CLP Government to go back to the Banned Drinkers Register. This is very important for the people of the Northern Territory, for those whose lives are blighted by alcohol, and for the community generally.

SARA EVERINGHAM: After winning the Northern Territory election last August, the Country Liberals carried out their election promise to scrap the Banned Drinker Register. At that time about 2,500 people were on the list.

The Country Liberals argue the register did not work. The policy also conflicted with the Country Liberals' opposition to tackling alcohol abuse through restrictions on supply.

A key point of difference between the Commonwealth and the Territory is whether supply restrictions are necessary. The Territory says it's focussed on reducing demand through its policy of mandatory rehabilitation.

On ABC local radio in Darwin Julia Gillard issued a veiled threat to cut funding to the Territory because of the harm she says is being caused by the Territory's alcohol policies.

JULIA GILLARD: I don't want to be in a position where we are continuing to invest at record rates only to see that good work undermined by the tap being turned back on for the alcohol.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Later the Prime Minister stopped short of saying she'll use Commonwealth powers to intervene if the Territory continues to resist further restrictions on alcohol supply.

JULIA GILLARD: Well we're at a stage before that where we've put a proposition and we're waiting for a sensible response.

SARA EVERINGHAM: New figures from the Alice Springs hospital suggest alcohol related harm has risen sharply since the Banned Drinker Register was dumped by the Country Liberals Government. The figures show the proportion of presentations linked to alcohol at the emergency department in Alice Springs doubled in just five months.

The figures are not official but were collated by concerned hospital staff.

The Northern Territory Health Minister Robyn Lambley has acknowledged that scrapping the Banned Drinker Register could be partly to blame for the rise.

ROBYN LAMBLEY: Some of those could be attributed to the Banned Drinkers Register being dumped by our Government very soon after coming to office.

SARA EVERINGHAM: But Robyn Lambley says the biggest contributor to the rise was an inquest into the death in custody of an Alice Springs man last year. The death prompted police to take more drunks to emergency rather than to the police watch house.

But the Alice Springs GP John Boffa, who's from the People's Alcohol Action Coalition, says the scrapping of the Banned Drinker Register is the most likely explanation. And he says the hospital data now needs proper investigation.

JOHN BOFFA: We need to fund and we need to have an independent evaluation of what's happened in terms of the impact of removal that the BDR's had to ascertain the true impact. But this data is very strongly suggestive that there's been a significant negative impact.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Julia Gillard has also been applying pressure on her $300 million Gonski school funding plan for the Territory.

JULIA GILLARD: If Premier O'Farrell in New South Wales, running the biggest schooling system in the country, can embrace the changes that I'm advocating, then it can be done here in the Northern Territory.

SARA EVERINGHAM: The Territory's Chief Minister Adam Giles has been one of the strongest opponents of the Gonski proposal. He says the funding commitments required from his Government are unsustainable and he warns the plan will burden schools with extra bureaucracy.

Julia Gillard indicated she will not be changing her offer to the Territory.

JULIA GILLARD: Well if you were designing an arrangement for the Northern Territory, how could you do any better than that?

SARA EVERINGHAM: The Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles described his meeting with the Prime Minister today as a friendly catch up, and said they were nowhere near a deal on Gonski.

ADAM GILES: We had a general conversation about education and our officials will continue dialogue down the track.